Loyalty Lost - The Mysterious Ninth Chosen Child
by Kimitsu
Summary: What if there really WAS a Ninth Chosen Child...? And what if that Child was something totally unfathomable... the enemy?! (1 is up! ^_^)
1. Prologue

Loyalty Lost – The Mysterious Ninth Chosen Child

By Otaku-chan (aniko@otakumail.com)

Written 10/29/2001

Official Message Board: Otaku-chan's Fandom

NOTES: This should've been done a long time ago. Say, 5:45 PM (Eastern Standard Time), rather than now – 12:40 AM. ::sigh:: As you can tell, Otaku-chan is one jigoku-of-a procrastinator. (And if you don't know Nihon-go, jigoku means 'hell'.) But it's started. And considering I had this idea about the time when Digimon Adventure began showing in the US, yea, it should've been out a long time ago. But you would've probably screamed at me for doing so at the time, what with the million-and-more ninth *ahem* "digidestined" fanfics out there. And besides, despite the title, this takes place in Zero 2 (Season 2). Which makes it easier on me. No Daikari, though I love that couple just for the humor I can work into it. ::hinthint:: ::shameless plug!:: Read "Release – Daisuke no Koibito" for more. End of ranting. Unless you want to read more for some unknown reason – then go down. But read the story FIRST! Shirimasu? ::reader shakes head:: Dame desu… -_-;;

ADDED NOTE: Generally, Japanese names, American attacks when it comes to the Digimon. Unless SOMEONE can give me all the Japanese attacks… But I doubt it. ::sniff:: ;_; Also, it's been a while since I saw the episode where the following events take place, so if some information is wrong, just take it as my "modified" version of it.

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Prologue – _The Distant Faces Fade Away_

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                Vamdemon grinned maliciously at the hapless duo. The Eighth Chosen Child, known as Yagami Hikari, stood with her back against the wall, shivering in fear at the sight of him. Good. He liked to see the fear that he could strike in the hearts of humans and digimon. Tailmon, that worthless, pathetic specimen of a digimon, guarded her, taking a battle stance. But Vamdemon knew she was out. Tired, weak, and in need of her stupid "crest" – Light. Which the girl could not give in the fear he, Vamdemon, had possessed her with. This was the perfect situation.

                If only that Wizardmon-something-or-other were here. Both were traitors to his dark cause. Both must be killed. And for one to see the other dying, that would've been the ultimate pleasure. Besides being in control of both worlds, of course.

                As it was, he was stuck with these two. Might as well kill them off before the girl's Light overpowered her fear. He raised his hand to aim a final blow at Tailmon. Poor, shivering, pathetic, weak Tailmon. "Crimson Lightning!" he called, gathering up the red energy to destroy the eighth one. He threw the bolts, knowing he could not miss. He was too close…

                "UHH~!" groaned one in pain. It was not Tailmon, or the girl. As the fog partially cleared, he saw the limp form of the second traitor, Wizardmon, lying, and breathing his last words, apparently. He had taken the blow. But it was all too perfect.

                The magically-named digimon handed a crest and tag to Hikari. Vamdemon could catch a glimmer of light as she accepted it. No! This wasn't possible! He couldn't move, couldn't reach out to snatch the dreaded crest and tag or digivice from the girl! It was as if time had stopped!

"Tailmon, _arigatou_. You were my friend… my only friend. Thank you for that…" Wizardmon's voice, already husky and hoarse, trailed off into a series of coughs as he became data once more. Hikari's tears glimmered, and one fell on the digimon's prone form.

                "Goodbye, my friend," whispered Tailmon softly. She blinked away any tears she might have, and turned to Vamdemon, a look of utter hate etched out clearly. "VAMDEMON!! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!! IF IT'S THE LAST THING I EVER DO!" she cried in her despair, rushing at the Dark Master.

***

                Inside the building Vamdemon had used in his search for the eighth Chosen Child, a little girl woke from the sleeping spell Vamdemon had used from them all. The silence was deafening. Getting up to her feet, one noticed she was about eight years old, with medium-length blue-black hair that stuck out in little pigtails. Making her way through the bodies to the boy who had befriended her while Vamdemon had been going through the line, she crouched next to his limp form.

                "D-Daisuke-kun… wake up! _Onegai_… don't leave me alone here… D-Daisuke-kun," she repeated over and over, shaking his body. The body of the one friend she had.

                And then, she felt something. Something from inside her gave a long cry of sadness. He was gone. Not Daisuke, someone else.

                There was a draft in the room. Strange, there were no windows and the doors were closed. But she heard it, she felt it. And she heard it say mournfully, "I'll return…"

***

OTAKU-CHAN NI OMAKASE: Short. So pitifully short. Especially for a prologue. ::weeps softly:: And it's 1:08 AM. ::sob:: But as you can tell, the aforementioned little girl and Wizardmon are a major part in this fic. So *ahem* ::imitates an announcer's voice:: "Stay tuned for chapter 1!" Saa, I know, it's corny, but gimme a break. ^_^;;


	2. The Beginning Again...

Loyalty Lost: The Mysterious Ninth Chosen Child

By Otaku-chan (aniko@otakumail.com)

Written 1/06/2002

NOTES: Episode 1! Chapter 1! Act 1! Scene 1! Whatever… anyways, I couldn't decide what format this fic should be in. Thus, it's called "1". *^_^* Ingenious, ne? The actual phrases used by the Chosen Children in Japanese are unknown to me, and until I find out, I'm just using whatever I can think of that's cool. ^_^;; You should all know the Japanese names by now, it's not that hard. Also, this takes the place of Episode 9 in the original Zero 2, so it starts pretty early in the season. Enjoy!

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1 –  _The Beginning Again_…

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                Motomiya Daisuke scowled at Tamachi Elementary's Center. It was the day of the big soccer game, the final one that would determine which elementary school in the district – Odaiba or Tamachi – was the best! All the other Chosen Children: Inoue Miyako, Hida Iori, Takaishi Takeru, and Yagami Hikari, along with Yagami Taichi, sat on the benches, prepared to cheer for their school (or in Taichi's case, his former school). They weren't necessarily there because of Daisuke, of course. If that had been the case, then only Taichi would have gone.

                "It's a shame their best player isn't here today," sighed Miyako reluctantly. "I would have loved to get his autograph…"

                "_A-ano_… you talking about Ichijouji Ken?" stammered Takeru. "Why would you want his autograph? Besides," he added, teasing Miyako, "isn't mine good enough for you?" Miyako nearly smacked the blond boy with a paper fan, but managed to restrain herself.

                "I heard that they let Ken do whatever he wants, as long as he shows up for the games – even at the last minute." Taichi frowned. He had heard of the genius child Ichijouji Ken, who was supposedly the smartest kid in all Odaiba, and the best soccer player of his grade as well. Surpassing even Daisuke, who was Odaiba Elementary's best player. And Daisuke had been practicing with Taichi, and had even managed to beat the 8th grader once… this Ichijouji kid couldn't be that good, could he? He grimaced and concentrated on watching the game. Hopefully, Daisuke wouldn't mess it up. Hopefully.

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                "Oi! Where's that Ichijouji kid, your best player?" questioned Daisuke. The player he faced shrugged in response, "How should I know? Hey, we let Ichijouji-san do whatever he likes. He always shows up for the games anyway, no matter how late." Then he contemplated something before continuing, "Though, these days, he's always busy doing _something_. As long as he shows up for the games, though, we've got no problem with that." This made Daisuke scowl even harder. Could that Ichijouji kid really be so good that the team just let him do whatever he wanted? Impossible.

                The whistle blew, startling Daisuke out of his thoughts and signifying the start of the game. He concentrated the ball and put all his energy into kicking it past the Center he faced. And succeeded as it shot past the player and at least one defense before the other trapped it and kicked it back to the Odaiba side – the Home side, really, since they were playing in the Odaiba Elementary soccer field. 

"YEAH, DAISUKE-KUN!!!" cheered Miyako in the stands. The sheer volume of her roar nearly deafened those who sat around her, except for Taichi. He was too busy following the soccer game, his eyes trailing the ball with every move. Daisuke had brought the game off to a good start. Now, the question was, could he keep it that way until the Ichijouji kid came?

The two Odaiba forwards had been dribbling the ball, passing it back and forth amongst each other to keep it from the Tamachi defense. Now, one of them hurriedly passed it to Daisuke's outstretched foot. Daisuke spun, bringing the ball rolling smoothly with his foot to face the Tamachi goal. One of the defense players attempted to slide and thrust the ball away from Daisuke's swinging foot, but missed as the Odaiba player's foot connected with the ball and sent it slamming smoothly into the goal net.

Or so he thought. The Tamachi goalie suddenly slid and swerved the ball away from its destination. _He's got good moves_, Daisuke thought, impressed. He charged and trapped the ball before kicking it again, this time, aiming for the upper left corner of the net, seeing as the Tamachi goalie was closer to the right side. Amazingly, the goalie leaped and managed to bring the ball down by slamming his fist into it, knocking the black and white ball to the grass, where he kicked it out onto the field once more. Daisuke stampeded again towards the ball, and aimed for the net again. Nearly every time, the goalie managed to stop it, which was pretty astounding. Until ten minutes later… one of the forwards announced, "Hey, Ichijouji's here!"

And Ichijouji Ken was. He stepped out of a small green car quite calmly, dressed in the green, black, and white uniform of Tamachi Elementary. The moment he set both feet on the ground, a horde of fangirls rushed towards him, squealing as he showed a gleaming smile while striding triumphantly to the soccer field. The majority of the crowd in the stands were staring at him (Especially Miyako, whose eyes by now had suddenly become hearts). The soccer teams were staring at him. The bystanders on the street were staring at him. Of them all, only Daisuke and the referee hadn't stared at "that Ichijouji kid". And Daisuke took the opportunity to slam the soccer ball in the goal net with a well-placed kick, earning them the lead of 4-1.

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                After Ken arrived on the playing field, the tides quickly turned. No doubt about it, "that Ichijouji kid" was obviously a soccer star. He replaced the original Tamachi center, and soon managed to bring up the score. The Tamachi goalie and defense were now getting absolutely no action – Ken had become the one-man Tamachi soccer team. Every time, his teammates would intercept and pass the ball to him, and he would dribble it down the field to the Odaiba goal, every shot getting through. The score was now 9-4, Tamachi lead.

                _I don't believe this guy! Soccer's supposed to be about teamwork!_ raged Daisuke in his thoughts. Every slide or intercept he and the Odaiba defense had done only earned them a scuffed shoe and some dust. Ken somehow managed to evade them all, and get past the Odaiba goalie as well. There were only a few minutes left. Ken was about to make the final shot that would bring the score to 10-4, Tamachi lead. He was perfectly positioned in front of the Odaiba goal, and it was easy to tell that the goalie was nervous. The beads of sweat glimmered in the sunlight.

                Daisuke saw a final chance. As Ken began to swing his leg, he slid towards the dark-haired boy, aiming for the soccer ball with his outstretched foot. Ken's foot connected with the ball… at the exact moment, Daisuke's foot hit Ken's ankle. The Tamachi center tripped and fell, spraining his ankle while gasping at the shock. Someone had managed to foil him. Someone had managed to foil the great Ichijouji Ken…

                It was unbelievable.

It was real. The gasps were audible all around as Daisuke stood up, panting. The referee blew the whistle. Its shrill noise pierced the air, signaling what everyone already knew: Game over.

                Tamachi Elementary had won, 9-4.

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                Daisuke jogged up to Ken. "Eh, Ichijouji-san, _gomen_. No hard feelings?" he asked, sticking out his hand. Ken took the hand and shook it politely, wincing slightly at the pain in his right ankle.

                "No. It doesn't hurt anyways." Liar. Daisuke saw the swelling red spot where he had slid into Ken. "You sure?" Ken nodded once before walking off, smiling to himself.

                "Good game, _ne_?" Daisuke turned his attention to the Tamachi goalie. He… no, _she_ was smiling.

                …_She_?! Daisuke had mistaken the girl for a guy earlier, with her ponytail tucked into her shirt. She stuck her hand out to grasp Daisuke's, shaking it harshly. "Y-you were pretty good," he managed to stammer out.

                "_Arigatou_. So were you," she returned, grinning oddly. Daisuke had an odd feeling about her as she walked off, following Ken. She seemed familiar… Had he seen her once? During an encounter with Digimon, maybe? It wasn't possible, was it?

                "Who is that girl?! What's she doing with Ichijouji?!" shrieked Miyako. "What's she doing with my guy?!"

                "Oh, her? She's just the goalie…" answered Daisuke. _She wasn't just the goalie_, he thought, _She's someone special…_

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                "Eh, what are we waiting for?" Daisuke muttered rebelliously. The Chosen Children were going on an after-game picnic – to make up for the one that had been ruined by the Roachmon brothers a week ago, and also as a celebration. (Well, not exactly, but just to celebrate Daisuke's plays, of sorts.) It was a better day anyways, and Miyako had finally paid back her mother for the goods she had taken last time. Daisuke's mouth was still watering from seeing the onigiri she had packed. And considering how, right now, he had to carry the food, shouldn't he be entitled to more when the time came to eat?

                "Keep your mouth shut, Daisuke-kun, and let me concentrate! _Digital Transfer_!" Typical of Miyako. The purple-haired girl (though Daisuke could certainly think of a better two-hiragana word for her) near-shoved the D-3 at the screen in her impatience. Of course, they all were impatient, but Miyako, besides Daisuke himself, was the main one to show it. Miyako's impatience certainly showed now, as veins began to show in her anger. The remainder of the Chosen Children hurriedly stepped back at this slight sign, sharing a common thought: _Here we go again… If she explodes, I'm getting out of here!_ The unspoken message seemed to get through to the computer, as the portal opened.

                One by one, the Chosen Children went through, their bodies translated as data to be functional in the Digital World. Daisuke, however, was the only one who passed with a slight incident – he felt a jolt go through him. It wasn't exactly physical, but not since he first went through the portal to the Digital World had he felt such a thing. It was somewhat of a warning, and yet, he felt as though he was excited over something… as to what it was, though, he knew nothing. In fact, he knew nothing whatsoever. Not that that was unusual, as Hikari would say. Whatever that meant.

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                They landed at the edge of a lush tropical forest. Not roughly, the majority of them landed upon their feet. 'Majority' not involving Daisuke, who slammed to the ground while attempting to catch V-mon. "Man, what did you eat?" was all he could comment as he tried to retrieve a breath of air. The blue and white Digimon grinned sheepishly as it tried to jump off of Daisuke's stomach, successfully. Successfully sending Daisuke slamming into the ground again, that is.

"Remind me never to let you sit on my head again… or the rest of my body, for that matter," groaned Daisuke. Chibimon immediately made a mental note to forget that.

Just then, Miyako noticed the bag containing the food. And nearly shrieked her head off at Daisuke.

"You idiot! You ate all the food! How are we supposed to have a picnic now?!" Reluctantly, the remainder of the Chosen Children looked at the bag.

It was unzipped. And empty. The bag was unzipped and empty. Completely empty. Devoid of even crumbs. Speaking of crumbs…

A smear of what looked like chocolate was at the corner of V-mon's lips. And a few grains of cooked rice seemed to be stuck to one of V-mon's paws. A closer look at each Digimon's paws and mouths showed traces of rice, chocolate, the occasional bit of bread left over from a sandwich, a patch of sticky fur (or feathers), and more. And the Chosen Children suddenly recalled the full inventory of food Miyako had brought for the picnic, to every last crumb and drop.

The Digimon could only cower as the darkened, angry faces of their human companions loomed over them, at least one vein popping out on every forehead.

"How could you do that?! You ate all the onigiri!" screamed Daisuke continuously. Well, actually, he alternated screaming, sobbing, and moaning the phrases. His voice, miraculously, didn't get hoarse. But even having a voice screaming, sobbing, and moaning the same thing at you can get tedious. Which was what V-mon was suffering. He watched numbly as Daisuke screamed in his ear. Then watched as Daisuke kneeled and sobbed, tears pouring out. And then, finally, he watched Daisuke moan, pounding his fists on the ground. _I'll bet the original Chosen Digimon didn't go through this…_ he thought darkly as one of Daisuke's pounding fists got too close and hit him in the foot.

"YOU ATE OUR FOOD?!?!" screeched Miyako, fists clenched. Veins popped out on each fist, not to mention one on her forehead, with her hair sticking up as well. Hawkmon cowered. He was normally the epitome of chivalry and courtesy (well, as chivalrous and courteous as a Digital Monster can get), but when you're faced with the human epitome of a cross between Medusa and a Harpy, what else can you do? So he tried (and managed) to hide behind Armadimon.

Iori said nothing. He didn't need to. He had learned and mastered the art of making someone feel bad by using a serious, yet sad and disappointed, face. And Armadimon was currently bearing the effects. And feeling guilty. _Oh no… he's making that face… nooooooo… anything but that… even getting beaten up is better… oh, no, here comes the guilt wave…_ With these thoughts, Armadimon suddenly broke down and cried, pleading forgiveness. "I'm sorry, _gomen nasai_! I w-won't d-do it a-again…" sobbed the poor Digimon. Iori continued using his disappointed expression, but a glint in his eyes seemed almost like he wanted to smirk. Of course, everyone knows that Iori's self-control won't let him do that…

"No. Uh-uh. NO. You're not sitting on my head from now on, Patamon, no way, not ever. Or at least, until you get a diet," muttered Takeru. Patamon had already managed to fly up and sit on his hat once since the discovery. And Takeru had immediately been unable to see, most likely due to the fact that a certain creature sitting on his head needed to lose weight… so that he wouldn't squash Takeru's hat on the blond's head… to the point of pain, that is. Even sitting on Takeru's shoulder didn't help – the blond boy had instinctively leaned to one side to lessen the burden… and Patamon had immediately slid off to a bumpy landing, made more so by the force of gravity upon his additional, recently gained weight.

"Tailmon, you should be ashamed of yourself." The cat Digimon in mention looked at her sticky paws. _That's the last time I try to drink lemonade without a container again,_ thought Tailmon. Of course, what she said aloud went along the lines of "I am… I'll never do that again…" Hikari continued, "If you wanted a snack, all you had to do was ask. It's not like we're all greedy pigs." Tailmon couldn't be sure if Hikari was referring to Daisuke, Hikari's brother Taichi, or the Digimon with that last remark. But she ended up saying, "I swear upon my missing tail ring that this will be the first, last, and only time I do that…" What Tailmon meant, was "I swear upon my missing tail ring that this will be the first, last, and only time I drink lemonade without a container. But soda, or juice, we'll see…" Oh, well. Curiosity will earn the cat a bath.

~*~*~

A glittering object caught the light, the eyes of the scolding Chosen Children, and the scolded Digimon. Wizarmon leapt into the cover of the trees' foliage, followed by a girl with long hair. The shadows hid her features, along with her companion's, but the mouth seemed twisted… almost into a sneer. "I'll teach you to get in the way of my beloved Kaizer," she murmured, twirling a lock of hair around her index finger. The girl was the Tamachi Elementary goalie, Seijitsu Ketsune.

Wizarmon looked at her worriedly. "Are you sure this is wise, 'Kitsune'-chan?" If the so-called "Kitsune" could read minds, then she would've known that what Wizarmon was most concerned about was going against his old friend, Tailmon. As it was, she was only concerned with helping her beloved Kaizer, and since these kids were getting in the way of the Kaizer's plan of Digital World Domination, she'd just have to eradicate them herself. After all, none of the Champion Digimon the Kaizer had sent had worked, right?

"Who says we're battling, eh? We join the group, and... KYAAAA~!!" Ketsune slid from midway off the tree trunk and into the foliage underneath, surfacing with several twigs and leaves in her hair. "Note to self," she muttered, "remind the Kaizer to give me some padded climbing gloves. And possibly a parachute." And looked up…

…to see the assorted faces of the Chosen Children staring at her.

"_A-ano_, excuse me, but, just _what_ were you doing in that shrub, _onee-san_…?" inquired Iori. Ketsune stammered.

"Huh? Oh, me? I was trying to climb that tree and get a better view of this area. You see, I think I'm lost, though I don't know how I got here in the first place," she lied glibly. Iori had little experience with lies and believed her, considering she hadn't harmed or hurt anyone yet. Nor was she threatening to. Takeru and Hikari, on the other hand, had reservations about her, but stifled them. Miyako was in doubt, though still lamenting over the loss of the picnic food. And Daisuke was the only one who recognized her.

"I know you! You're the Tamachi Elementary goalie!" he announced triumphantly. "But what are you doing here?" Ketsune could have laughed. He had recognized her, though she had recognized him from the Kaizer's images since she had first seen him on the field.

"Where is this place anyways?" she asked, feigning confusion and curiosity. The fools fell for it.

"Welcome to the Digital World…"

*~*owari*~*

OTAKU-CHAN NO OMAKASE: That was… short. Actually, I was planning to make this a lot longer, but it was getting to be a lot. So this lazy writer just ended the part there. Not a cliffhanger, but good enough. I especially like the soccer part of this chapter. I think Dai-kun's getting to me – I don't usually play soccer, and now I don't dare skip gym at school, just so I can play the soccer/football cross we're currently playing. And I have a lot of fun being the center, running all over the field. Since Dai-kun's that type of person, I made him a center as well. Not to mention in the original, he ran both on the Tamachi side and the Odaiba side, so it's safe to assume that Dai-kun is a center. (NOTE: Dai-kun is Daisuke, I just refer to him as Dai-kun.) Being goalie, however, is a different story. Enough now, I'd better stop typing. Jaa~! And review! Otaku-chan no continue if you no review. _


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